


Mad Prince Rulf: The Red Queen

by sglottalk



Series: Crown Prince Rulf [4]
Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Age Difference, F/M, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, Post-Canon, Rulf what are you smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-23
Updated: 2016-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-22 19:12:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6091195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sglottalk/pseuds/sglottalk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Crown Prince Rulf and Cordelia meet at a party.</p><p>WARNING: Contains <i>Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen</i> spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Just two weeks earlier, Emperor Gregor, Empress Laisa, Princess Rebecca, Prince Largon, Prince Padma, and Princess Elena had all attended the wedding of Marius Vorlakial and Elizabeth Vorkosigan, both of whom had just finished their first year at the Imperial Military Service Academy. 

Prince Negri had been invited, but did not show up. Crown Prince Rulf had not even been invited.

For the first time in years, Dowager-Countess Corderlia Naismith Vorkosigan, along with Professor Jole, her daughters, and his sons, came to Barrayar so they all could attend her granddaughter's wedding. To take advantage of Cordelia's rare visit, Gregor and Laisa hosted an informal party at the Imperial Residence for friends and family. Cordelia, Jole, Ivan and Tej left their young children in the care of their nannies, but all of Count and Countess Vorkosigan's children (and children-in-law, including the Vorsoissons) came to the party. Count Vorvolk and his family, Simon Illyan and Alys Vorpatril, and Kou and Drou came as well. 

And of course, all of Gregor and Laisa's children, except Prince Negri, were there. Including Crown Prince Rulf.

"I'm starting to think Gregor sent him to install light fixtures on Aslund Station," Miles said. "He Requested and Required that I not use my Imperial Auditor powers to find out where the hell Prince Negri is. He says it's cheating. Damn. I like knowing where all of the imperial heirs are."

"Surely you have some idea where Prince Negri is," Helen Natalia Vorkosigan said to Simon Illyan.

"Actually, I don't," replied Simon. "I just hope he's not running a mercenary fleet somewhere in the galaxy."

"I think he ran off to become a prostitute on Beta Colony," Ivan said. "He is by far the best-looking of Gregor's kids, and I'd rather be on Beta Colony than second-in-line to the throne, especially with..." Ivan made a covert gesture indicating Rulf.

"But weren't you second-in-line to the throne for a while?" Tej asked.

"Third, and don't remind me," Ivan replied.

"Well, I think he is some kind of ImpSec agent," Kou said. "He graduated from the Imperial Military Service Academy at the top of his class, and it certainly fits his name."

"I think," Michael Vorvolk said, "that he's out there making a huge, Toscane-sized fortune so that the Imperium can abolish taxes for ten years."

Laisa giggled. Gregor and Laisa were the only ones in the room who knew where Negri really was, and it was entertaining to hear about all of the theories people were generating about their second son's disappearance. It was definitely nice that one of their other sons was finally a bigger topic for social conversation than their eldest.

Uh oh. 

Just whenever it seemed that Rulf would fade from gossip, _he always found a way to make a comeback_.

And there he was, approaching Cordelia.

"Milady, you look stunning tonight," Rulf said.

"Don't 'milady' me, kiddo. I'm no longer a Vor lady." Cordelia looked at him. "Young Rulf, I believe. You've grown up since I last saw you."

"I hope I'm grown up enough for you now. What have you heard of me?"

"There is an entire ocean of wild rumors about you, even in the remote corners of Sergyar. From personal experience, I've learned to take such stories with an ocean's worth of salt."

"Did you hear about my vow of abstinence?"

"Probably, and I probably forgot it. Abstinence from what?"

"Sex. An experiment."

"That seems like ... a strange vow for a young Barrayaran man to make."

"Only for one year. I dare say, people are more shocked by me _not_ having sex than if I had taken half of the ladies of Vorbarra Sultana to bed."

Indeed, Gregor and Laisa had found Rulf's sudden abstinence from sex ... unnerving. He publicly declared his vow shortly after he was released from ImpSec custody because of the incident with Maya Vorob'yev. Most people believed he had just been making a spectacle of himself, as usual, and that he was not actually spending a whole year without sex. But ImpSec had confirmed that, yes, Rulf really had abstained from sex ever since he declared that vow. Laisa was concerned that being falsely accused of rape had disturbed him, and had hired a sexuality therapist for him. That worked about as well as therapy generally worked for Rulf: not at all. Gregor was okay with the idea that the incident had scared him into abstinence - Gregor would accept anything which might slow him down from becoming another Prince Serg. Yet even he felt there was something wrong with his son shifting so swiftly from promiscuity to celibacy. _What is going on in the boy's mind?_

"Is that why you took that vow? To shock people?"

"Not just that. I have found it very beneficial. But the year is up, and I still have yet to break my long spell of celibacy. I was hoping I could have the honor of breaking it ... with you."

The longer Rulf and Corderlia had been speaking, the more ears had turned their way. By now, everyone who had been listening on this dialogue entered into such a deep silence that those who had not been paying attention finally noticed. Even Lizzie and Marius finally became aware that they were not the only two people in the room.

"Excuse me, kiddo. Did you just proposition me for sex?"

"I did."

All of the young people - the other princes, the princesses, Michael Vorvolk, the young Vorkosigans - had all dropped their jaws. Kou and Drou held each other's hands, as if they expected the roof to cave in. Simon and Alys' faces both expressed the thought _we could not have heard what we just heard_. If looks could kill, then Professor Jole would already have been guilty of murder and treason. Ekaterin became as still as a statue, with bulging eyes. Miles looked like someone had stolen his breath. Ivan dropped his wineglass, which shattered on the floor. Tej looked confused, wondering what the big deal was.

"What I'd like to know," Cordelia asked, "is whether you actually want to have sex with me, or whether you just want to shock people?"

"If I wanted to shock people, that would be all the more reason to have sex. Doing it would be much more shocking than merely talking about it. But I also would like to have sex with a woman who has as much grace, resilience, and depth as yourself."

"I have to admit, I am flattered."

Gregor felt like his brain had been short-circuited, though he could still tell that Laisa's heart had also started beating much faster. _My son made a pass at Cordelia. My son is trying to seduce Cordelia. My son wants to get into bed with Cordelia..._

"Perhaps you would like to dance first mila- arghh, it is really difficult not to call you 'milady', you know?"

"Alright, we can dance."

Rulf and Cordelia danced a few rounds of the mirror dance, while everyone else watched in horrified fascination.

"Aren't I a bit old for you, kiddo?"

"Some men prefer older women. Emperor Yuri, for example. He was nine years younger than his wife, Empress Mireille, and the historical record indicates he was just as attached to her as your late husband was to yourself."

"Don't think I'm going to agree to this just because I'm Betan, kiddo. On Beta Colony, a sexual relationship between people of ages as different as our own would not get much social approval."

"In that case, I have never been happier to not be on Beta Colony. Of course, it was a problem for Crown Prince Yuri and Lady Mireille as well. Emperor Dorca probably would not have have let the marriage take place if Lady Mireille had not already been with Yuri's child. Princess Vyvyan was born just six months after the wedding."

"This encounter has been _intriguing_. However, I have some young children waiting for me, and Professor Jole and I had agreed that we would leave around this time to go back to them. Besides, since I'm leaving Barrayar this week, an affair between would have to be awfully brief. Unless you were planning to move to Sergyar?"

"No, no, your children come first, I understand. I am honored that a woman of your caliber seriously considered my proposition. But, can I at least get a kiss?"

Corderlia looked at him for a moment. "Why the hell not?"

They kissed. Whatever little was left of the life of the party was forever banished.

Soon afterwards, Cordelia left with Professor Jole, who was in a profound state of shock. Not that most of the attendees were in much better shape. Awkwardly, they made their ways out within the following ten minutes. Only Rulf was smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I was brainstorming ideas for fanfic about Gregor and Miles' kids, I was originally thinking about writing about Lieutenant Elizabeth Vorkosigan Vorlakial, as well as Gregor's second son (who I eventually named Prince Negri). The crown prince (who I eventually named Rulf) was supposed to only be a minor character - mainly there to influence Prince Negri's character development. However, the crown prince turned out to be a more dynamic character than I expected, so I spent a lot of time thinking about his backstory. I finally decided to write about Rulf first because a) I was inspired b) since Rulf's story is shorter than the Elizabeth / Prince Negri / Marius Vorlakial saga I'm imagining, it's a lot less intimidating and c) since Rulf's story comes first in the internal chronology, I might as well write it first. I hope I will some day be able to write that Lizzie / Negri / Marius fanfic, but no guarantees.


	2. Chapter 2

"I assume you want to talk about what happened last night," Cordelia said.

Gregor was still at a loss. He had already scheduled a meeting with Cordelia, and he had been planning to talk to her about Rulf even before the incident the previous night. He had been worried that Rulf might do something vicious to Cordelia, but he had never imagined he would have done _this_.

"I owe you an apology," Cordelia continued. "I got so caught up in brinksmanship with Rulf that I did not consider what it would do to everyone present."

"Brinksmanship?" Gregor asked.

"If Rulf really wanted to get into my pants, he would have picked a more private place to make his move. He obviously was trying to unsettle me. I did not want to grant him the satisfaction of succeeding. And I wanted to turn the tables on him, to see if seeming to take his offer seriously would unsettle _him_. Which it did not. It I had known it was going to go as far as it did, I would have just shut him down early with a polite refusal." 

"Apology accepted," Gregor said. "I'm not sure if it's a good idea for you to speak to Laisa directly - she's mad at you, you know - but I will pass on your apology to her as well. I was also hoping that we could talk about Rulf ... more generally."

"I don't know much about him, you know. Even during this visit, I've hardly seen him," Cordelia replied.

"I think he may be going down a bad path."

"What do you mean by 'bad path'?"

"That he is becoming like my father."

Cordelia straightened her spine. "And what gives you that impression?"

"He openly worships Mad Emperor Yuri..."

"Yes, I think I did see a little of that last night."

"He's a drug junkie."

"What kind of drugs?"

"I don't remember the full list ... Gorgon's Fire, sandweed, rishiri, seventh stone, nachusvoi, Joyride to Hell, saporopet, mind-dagger, cannabis ..."

"Does he involve ... other people?"

"He has a number of companions. He's also a dealer - that's how he finances his habits, we don't let him use Imperial household funds..."

"Does he force other people to use drugs?"

"He encourages others, obviously when he's dealing ... but I can't say he _forces_ people."

"Ah. So he's not trying to get a particular _performance_ from others."

Gregor remembered reading the details of how Prince Serg had used drugs to control his victims and the servants who ... Gregor did not want to dwell on that.

"He's been promiscuous - well, before this vow of abstinence, which also creeps me out - he's swived a lot of people."

"That sounds like a stereotypical young High Vor lordling," Corderlia remarked.

"He breaks a lot of taboos of the High Vor. He's had sex in public, he's had sex with men, and it's not that I have a problem with that in principle, but my father did that too, and ... based on what I know about my father, he was not actually bisexual. He's said in his own words that he screwed men just because he liked having power over them. I don't think Rulf is bisexual either, that he had sex with men for some other reason."

"Like shocking people?" Cordelia suggested.

"Perhaps," said Gregor.

"What else?"

"About a year ago - just before he took that vow of abstinence - he engaged in a little sadism."

"Consensual or not?"

"At first, I thought it was ... not consensual. But a couple of fast-penta interrogations confirmed that it was."

"Who did you fast-penta?"

"The girl, and Rulf."

Cordelia sat back. "You say he is a drug junkie? Who hands the drugs over to him?"

"He had made himself a little network of suppliers."

"Has anyone made offers of narcotics to manipulate him?"

"Yes," said Gregor. That had been one of his nightmares, that someone would use drugs to put Rulf under their power. "There were times I thought I would have to intervene, to prevent someone from getting that kind of hold on him ... but it never came to that. He's even sometimes cut off ties with suppliers for reasons _I_ don't understand. It seems the people who are, ah, narcotically involved with him find him as baffling and unpredictable as we do."

"So even though he's a junkie, nobody's found a way to control him through narcotics."

"One time, when we were desperate, Laisa sent a Toscane agent posing as a drug dealer ... we thought, once we got some kind of hold, any kind of hold on him, we could work from there. Rulf didn't give the agent the time of day."

"Rulf held his own against a Toscane agent, backed by Laisa. Impressive. What about Miles, have you gone to him for help?"

"Rulf is really good at putting Miles on edge, and nowadays Miles finds him so repulsive he tries to keep himself and especially his family as far away from Rulf as possible. Ah ... I think you are going to have to talk to him about what happened last night as well."

"I will."

"When the depth of Rulf's issues first became apparent, Miles tried to counsel him, but it didn't do any good. He drove Miles up the wall, and Miles didn't get through to him at all."

"So Rulf is even immune to _Miles_. Gregor, your son is incredible. Ges Vorrutyer and Grishnov would have never had a chance. Nor Count Vordrozda."

Gregor tried to picture Count Vordrozda putting his hooks into Rulf. No matter how he imagined it, it ended with Vordrozda joining the chorus in favor of disinheriting Rulf after he failed at persuading Rulf of a single thing.

"Has Rulf shown any ambition for amassing political power?"

"No, he hasn't. On the contrary, he seems intent on throwing away whatever political power he has as if it were confetti."

"Oh, so there really was an Imperial Confetti Incident."

"That story does have a grain of truth in it," Gregor conceded.

"Gregor, this picture you're painting of Rulf ... it does not sound like Prince Serg to me. Rather, it reminds me of another young Vor lunatic who once terrorized the streets of Vorbarra Sultana - constantly intoxicated, scandalous sexual escapades, experimentation with sadomasochism - who responded to vile gossip by giving them twice the tale to chew upon..."

Gregor tried to think of the young Vor men Cordelia had known, but could not think of anybody who matched the description. "Who?"

"Aral," replied Cordelia.

Gregor raised his eyebrows. He had been aware of his foster father's troubled youth, even that he had had an affair with Ges Vorrutyer, though he never knew the details. Never _wanted_ to know the details. 

"Is that why ... last night..."

"Oh no," said Cordelia. "The parallels between Rulf and young Aral did not occur to me until just now. Though who knows what was going on in my subconscious."

Gregor choked.

"Gregor," Cordelia said. "I know you have been afraid for decades that you have your father inside you, waiting to escape," Cordelia said. "I know you have been afraid that your father will return to life through your sons. When your children were conceived, you did not just have them gene-cleaned, you had them gene-bleached. I suspect that you have been so haunted by that nightmare that it has been hard for you to see other possibilities. When you're holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail."

"What do you suggest?"

"Have you tried therapy?"

"Many times."

"Voluntary or involuntary?"

"Involuntary."

Cordelia paused to think for a moment. "After the invasion of Escobar, I was put in ... not entirely voluntary therapy. The therapists assumed that Ges Vorrutyer had raped me, and that Aral had abused me as well. No matter how much I denied it, they kept digging, certain that if they drilled deep enough, they could find the 'truth'. Suffice to say, they did not get what they wanted, and it was not at all therapeutic for myself. I don't know what happened in Rulf's therapy sessions, but it is possible that assumptions were made, and the right questions were never asked.

"Stop looking at Rulf as the second coming of Prince Serg. And don't start looking at him as the second coming of Aral, that would be just as bad. Get to know whatever unique kind of Vor crazy your son has come up with."

"I suppose I also should not look at him as the second coming of Mad Yuri."

"Indeed," replied Cordelia. "Does he idolize Yuri only in public?"

"No. Years before he made a big show of his 'admiration' of Yuri, he had been burning offerings to him in private. And he still does, sometimes."

"Ah. This at least is probably a manifestation of, if not his inner thoughts, at least something closer to them."

"It bothered me when he first started," Gregor said. "But he also burned offerings to other Vorbarras. He's spent a lot of time researching the history of Our House - it is about the only academic pursuit which has held his interest since he was about twelve. At the time, I hoped that he was merely inspired to honor Our heritage in a general way."

"Has he ever made a public spectacle of burning an offering to anyone _but_ Yuri."

"No. Actually yes. He once made a production of burning an offering to Prince Xav, but he might have just done that to piss off Miles."

"Yes, I can see that. Have you ever asked him _why_ he is so fixated on Yuri?"

Gregor reviewed what he remembered. "No, I don't think I ever have."

"That might be a place to start."

***

"Yes, Father," Crown Prince Rulf said, smirking.

"I want understand ... why do you hold Emperor Yuri in such high esteem?"

This wiped the smirk off Rulf's face. "If Dowager-Countess Vorkosigan wishes to speak with me, I wish she would do so herself, and not through you." Rulf abruptly exited the room.


End file.
